Wetland Restoration and Creation

1. Wetland Restoration and Creation • The functions that wetlands provide and the continuing loss of wetlands has led to considerable interest in wetland restoration and creation • Restoration begins with a degraded or former wetland • Wetland construction usually refers to an artificially created and maintained wetland that is built specifically for wastewater or stormwater treatment

2. Failure to obtain appropriate hydrology one of the most common problems

3. It has been argued that wetland projects need to be monitored for at least 15 to 20 years and that wetland research should be done on a watershed scale

4. Major Restoration Initiatives in the United States

8. Cape Romano Miami Marco Island Cape Sable Flamingo Big Cypress Big Cypress Mangrove Mangrove Florida Keys Pine Rockland Pine Rockland Coastal Prairie Coastal Prairie Everglades Everglades

9. Golden Gates Estate Old Logging Roads Faka-Union Canal Marco Island Ten Thousand Islands

12. Indiana • Kankakee Marsh • The marsh was one of the largest freshwater wetland complexes in the U.S., encompassing 500,000 acres in eight counties. • Wetlands and prairie habitats were associated with the Kankakee River • Area was drained by channelizing the river and cutting drainage canals into the marsh

13. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a new national wildlife refuge in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois. • The purpose of the refuge would be to facilitate the restoration and preservation of approximately 30,000 acres of fish and wildlife habitat within the 3.3 million-acre watershed of the Kankakee River.

14. FWS effort is being matched by concerted efforts from the State and from The Nature Conservancy • TNC’s greater Kankakee Sands Project Area, includes over 1,800 acres of wet sand prairie/sedge meadow remnants and over 6,000 acres of fair to high quality oak barrens communities.

15. Kankakee Marsh, 1897